HARTFORD — Anthony Gonsalves, the runner-up Sunday at the 11th annual Max's O'Hartford 5K and Wee Mile road race, was left with loser's lament even before finishing seven seconds behind Chris Chisholm. Gonsalves saw the results of his rival's wise decision — and his inability to counter — unfold before him all the way to the finish line.

Chisholm, 52, of Farmington, relied on craftiness to win the battle of strategy over the 25-year-old former Central Connecticut State University track and cross country runner. He stepped behind Gonsalves, of Berlin, using him as a shield to block the gusty wind.

Kristina Miner, a former Suffield High and Trinity College runner, repeated as the women's winner, placing 14th overall, in 19 minutes and 46 seconds.

Race officials said close to 2,200 runners finished the 5K, which began outside the XL Center. Fun runs for children preceded the 1 p.m. start with distances of a quarter-, half- and full mile. Some of the younger racers were guided by parents.

With energy saved by using Gonasalves to block the wind, Chisholm was fresher when he decided to make the move for separation with a mile left on the 3.14-mile course. Gonsalves, who took for two-thirds of the race, couldn't answer Chisholm's dash. Chisholm, a previous winner who did not compete lasty year, finished in 17:12.

"I think I should have done what he did," Gonsalves, running the race for the first time, said of Chisholm. "He was on my [rear end] most of the first 2 miles. The wind just knocked everybody back."

The wind was so fierce in spots, that it pushed over some of the child runners and spectators and knocked some adults off balance.

"It was like sailing a ship," said Chisholm, whose son, Matt, a 2014 graduate of Farmington High, runs at Yale. "I was going side to side. I let him break the wind. In the last mile, I pulled ahead. I kind of know this race and where the downhills are."

Gonsalves, originally from Rhode Island, hadn't raced since December, and he used the O'Hartford race as a tune-up for some upcoming races. "This was a good rust-buster," he said.

Chisholm runs more than 30 races a year, he said, but this was his first in 2015. "It's a good time of the year to come out of hibernation," he said.

The third-pace finisher was Kevin Harrington (17:49) of Bristol. He was followed by Gregory Weaver (18:18), of West Hartford in fourth, and Kevin Vallez (18:18) of Ellington, fifth.

Adam Haywood, an assistant track coach at Bloomfield High, placed sixth and was four seconds behind Chisholm and Gonsalves at the 1-mile mark, which he crossed in 5:27.

"After the mile, they pulled away," Haywood said. "It was a little windy. I cannot complain. At least it wasn't snowing."

Miner has run the O'Hartford four years in a row, placing fourth among women in 2012, third in 2013 and first in 2014. She beat the second-place woman, Stacey Clark of East Berlin, by 63 seconds on Sunday. Clark was 25th overall.

Miner and Clark are teammates but this was their first competition together in 2015. "I couldn't even see her. She was like a bullet," Clark said.

Miner says she plans to run her first marathon in October in Hartford. "Strategically, I wanted to find someone to run with today. That didn't work out this time," Miner said.